The road to the vineyards of Napa Valley stretches for miles and if you haven't driven it before, chances are that your first time will be a bit terrifying. But as long as you keep calm and just relax into those curves by the end of this stretch there is no way that all those picturesque views aren’t going to make up for any close calls.
Napa Valley Road at Sunrise
The vineyard is one of the many beautiful attractions that visitors can see in Napa Valley. Visitors are able to tour several wineries and sample their delicious wine, which makes up for nearly 85 percent of California's total production.
The vines stretch out into miles upon acres under rows upon rows across hillsides overlooking picturesque views over looking small towns nestled within valleys surrounded by mountains whose peaks reach high above foggy clouds obscuring them creating an atmosphere romantic enough for almost anyone.
Napa Valley
Napa Valley Rainbow
I recently vacationed in beautiful Napa Valley, California, where I enjoyed plenty of wine tasting, and more importantly, capturing the scenery in photos. My last trip to Napa this past spring was a whirlwind trip that left me with only a few quick photo opportunities between vineyard visits; this time I had four full days to drag myself out of bed each morning to shoot - and the lack of sleep was well worth it! Not shockingly, the pure beauty of Napa Valley gave me just enough energy to get up each morning to take photos.
Napa Valley Sunrise - Day 1
Napa Valley Sunrise - Day 1
We stayed near downtown Napa which gave me easy access to the entire valley. Our rental house had an impressive, picturesque view which I knew would be my first shoot, but I still had to figure out where else I was going to shoot. As we explored the valley I bookmarked each location that looked perfect for a sunrise shot and kept a tally on my phone. GPS makes for a great photo shoot assistant.
Napa Valley Sunrise - Day 1
Napa Valley - Silver Oak Vineyard
I'm in the process of buying a roller bag to accommodate all of my gear. In the meantime I've been packing up my Lowepro AW250 with as much as I can, which forces me to choose favorite lenses as I can't fit my Nikon 28-70 f2.8 , Nikon 80-200 f2.8 and my wide angle in the bag at the same time. I opted to bring my wide angle lens and my Nikon 28-70 f2.8 this time, which proved to work out. There were times I would have liked to have my Nikon 80-200 f2.8, but that's life. The moral of the story: stop being cheap and get a rolling bag!
Napa Valley - BV Vineyard and Domain Carneros
Napa Valley - Inglenook Vineyard
Anyway, back to the adventure..... Day 1 and I'm up (amazingly) at 5:00 am. The sun is not up and I realized I made a slight miscalculation. Due to the mountain range the sun doesn't peak above the mountains until after sunrise. Luckily, the extra 20 minutes gave me time to make sure all the settings were ready to go on my Nikon D800, which I had forgotten being my first time shooting HDR since I got my D800. Settings... Check. Now it was time to play around with my new Lee Filter Set and my 0.9 ND Grad. Looks like I needed that extra time anyway.
Napa Valley - BV Vineyard
Napa Valley California
In a place like Napa Valley you can't help but feel like one with nature as you are surrounded by this lush intense beauty. As the sun started to approach the mountain line I just sat there admiring the whole process in awe and of coursing shooting the whole time.
Napa Valley - Palmaz Vineyard
Later that day we headed out on our wine tour. We wound our way from vineyard to vineyard and stopped at some old and new favorites: Silver Oak , Inglenook, Beaulieu Vineyard and Palmaz Winery - bookmarking of course along the way.
Napa Valley - Palmaz Vineyard
Napa Valley - Inglenook Vineyard and BV Vineyard
Napa Valley California - Sunrise
Day 2 was definitely harder to get out of bed than Day 1, but today I had car keys and was ready to travel. I explored the north area of the valley, near Yountville and got some great morning shots. It's hard to look for locations while driving but luckily there aren't many people on the road at that time. Shooting in Napa is pretty amazing but it can also be a challenge since the light I prefer lasts only about 25 minutes this time of year.
Napa Valley - Palmaz Vineyard
Napa Valley California - Sunrise
The final two days I made my way over to the Domain Carneros area and explored the surrounding miles. Unfortunately, there was one location that I wanted to shoot but didn't have time to go to. Pride Mountain is breathtaking from what I hear so I was a little disappointing that I didn't get to see it or shoot any pictures. Judging from the shots I got and what will end up going in my portfolio I'd say this was a very successful trip. Now that I'm home I wish I was back; I see how people fall in love with California and never come home. I'll just have to hang some of my sunrise shots in my condo to remind me of those early morning adventures...
Napa Valley - Hog Island Oyster
Napa Valley California - Sunrise
Napa Valley California - Sunrise
I recently had the pleasure of traveling to Napa Valley and San Francisco for a week and I was extremely impressed with the beautiful scenery, amazing food, and wine. One of my favorite vineyards on our tour was Beaulieu Vineyard and Provenance Vineyard. Jeff and the crew at Beaulieu were superb hosts and their wine is top notch. He did a great job of educating our group on what to look for in good wine and a twirl that could make a sommelier nervous. Provenance also had amazing wine and plush grounds to match.
During our entire trip mother nature was very cooperative - we had almost no rain and several days of bright blue skies. One morning in Napa I managed to get up at dawn and get a few shots of the sunrise over the mountains. It was an amazing experience and one that I will never forget. Every picture and view has mountainous back drops and plush rolling hills. This was my first trip to the valley but I'm already planning a trip back.
After Napa Valley we headed back to San Francisco taking the "scenic route" with stops at Muir Woods and Muir Beach. At Muir Beach we discovered a path that led up the mountain to a picturesque view of the beach and coastline. The over 30 minute trek was well worth it. And of course no trip to San Francisco is complete without a taste of some of its great restaurants - one of our favorites was lunch at Delarosa for pizza and Italian tapas.
